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Sunday, July 21, 2013

Deets on Savannah

Have ya missed me?! I sure have missed writing, but I've been spending all my time this week working and working out- both things that I truly enjoy doing (and those are two things I NEVER thought I'd genuinely, 100% love!). If you couldn't tell from the "Hey Y'all!" on the little fan I'm holding in the picture, I took a visit to Paula Deen's store a while back. For those of you who don't remember, a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of going to Savannah, Georgia with this guy:

Hey John!

We had a blast, as one might expect. Savannah is such a neat city, with lots to do. We left on the third, stopping in Beaufort that night, which is a cute little town on the coast of SC. Stopping in Beaufort meant we would have more time in Savannah, without spending much more money on a hotel! Score! On the morning of Independence Day, I woke up early to use the (possessed) hotel treadmill and get some breakfast. We checked out of the hotel and checked out the quaint downtown Beaufort area. Beaufort was a cute place to explore, but it's certainly not somewhere I would pick to spend much longer than one night. Lots of shops were closed for the fourth, but we didn't mind. We traipsed along by the water before getting back in the car, Savannah bound!

Yes, I'm obnoxiously festive, and no, I do not care.

Upon our arrival in Savannah, John and I found parking. As awesome as our hotel was, it did not include free parking, which was a bummer in a crowded city! However, the killer location made it worth it, and the hotel kind of made up for it with its fancy wine and cheese soirées before dinner each night ;)

Our last night- you can kind of see some of the wine in the background of this picture. PS: a pianist was almost always tickling the ivories while we sipped our wine. We felt way out of place, but I got a kick out of pretending to be fancy! It was like a grown-up tea party!

During our trip, we ate some delicious food, thanks to UrbanSpoon and TripAdvisor- those apps/sites are crucial if you want to know the best places to go! Here were my favorites:

Spanky's- super casual, super cheap, and John and I split the chicken tenders and these things called "Spanky's Spuds" and when dipped in ranch dressing, they are smack-yo-momma good, and I'm not sure I've ever used that phrase before.

Huey's On the River- John and I had a nice little romantic (okay, you caught us, we were totally being goofy), candle-lit (that part is true!) dinner on the river here. There is a little bit of a wait, but I thought the yummy pesto ravioli was worth it!

Crystal Beer Parlor- after stopping at Savannah's History Museum, we had lunch here and all I can say is please try the Gawgia Cracka Nachos, aka BBQ pulled pork on tortilla chips with cheese and diced onions. Although it's an appetizer, a half order was more than enough to work as my full meal!

John was totally into the quilting exhibit in the museum... Not!

Excited to see Forrest's bench!

John and I raided plenty of sweets and candy shops for praline samples, which are to die for, because, duh, they are melt-in-your-mouth sugar and butter. We also satisfied our sweet teeth (okay, maybe only one of us really has a sweet tooth...) with Leopold's Savannah's famous ice cream shop. It serves up classics, like this Coke Float John ordered.

Although Vinnie Van Go-Go's pizza was the number one spot recommended for food in Savannah (hundreds of people have written rave reviews on this casual place), neither of us were too impressed with the pizza, I had a slice, or calzones, which John sampled. However, it was a good, quick dinner before Fourth of July festivities on River Street, which I prepped for with a slushie from Wet Willie's, which isn't special to Savannah, but it was exciting to this newly 21 year old!

Slurp!

John and I had a great time eating delicious food, exploring the city, and even going to Tybee Island for a day, but our two favorite parts of the trip, hands-down, were our visits to Savannah Smiles and the Boos and Brews tour. Savannah Smiles is a dueling piano bar, and if you've never been to one, I highly recommend you find your closest one. The musicians will have you clapping, laughing, dancing, and singing along, whether you're a hipster or a prepster, and that's the kind of place I like! There's a five dollar cover, but it's well worth it; I promise!

Beachin' it up- our accidental matchy-matchy-ness made me happy!

The Boos and Brews tour was so cool. I'm a total scared-y cat, so I was a bit apprehensive going into this tour, but again, it had great reviews, so we went for it. Our guide Chad was a sweet elementary schoolteacher, and he was knowledgable about Savannah's history. The tour definitely made you think, and we got to know some neat people as we walked around at night. John and I also tried a few signature drinks at notable bars in Savannah, like O'Connel's (the pickleback is unique, to say the least) and 17Hundred90 Inn (their key lime pie concoction was good, even to someone who doesn't care much for key lime pie!).

We were told to take lots of pictures to see if we could catch a glimpse of the paranormal- I didn't get anything, but it was still interesting! There's our guide Chad towards the end of the tour at our last stop, the Moon River Brewing Company- a notoriously haunted Savannah hotspot!

We had a ball in Savannah, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a fun getaway, especially if you like places like Charleston, SC. Now I'm just counting down the days until I see my family up north... Less than two weeks! Yay!